續傳燈錄 13.44

13.44

鄧州香嚴慧照洞敷禪師。福州人生於范氏。幼而氣韻清敏。長慕空宗。依東宗景德寺圓明大師出家。試經得度受具。遍參江淮叢席。末後見淨因臻。一言頓契如箭鋒相拄。加以學問該博。自然融會。名動京師。被旨出世於鄧之香嚴幾十載。返故里住龜山壽山神光三剎。上堂曰。西乾四七道絕語言。東上二三法無文字。惟傳一印直指人心。心了則天地全該。印定則絲毫不漏。塵塵絕待法法融虛。方乃契聖根源。始曰入佛知見。如斯薦得落二落三。本色衲僧如何話會。還道得麼。箇中消息若為傳。鳳闕龍樓峭倚天。要會覺城東際事。寥寥千古尚依然。住龜山時。僧問。遠辭香嚴丈室。近入龜山道場。如何是不動尊。師曰。千手大悲提不起。僧云。如何是動尊。師曰。玉殿曾遊歷金門屢往還。又問。如何是龜山境。師曰。千峯來有路八極淨無塵。云如何是境中人。師曰。有時開眼有時合。又問。如何是佛法的的大意。師曰。山寒露骨水淺見沙。師乃曰。窮經窮論。正如入海算沙。覓法覓心。大似捫空求響。故釋尊出世。為一大事因緣。諸祖傳衣。亦乃廣開方便。發揮教外之正法。指示涅槃之妙心。作筏渡人應病與藥。故善說法者說無所說。善傳心者傳無所傳。縱饒一棒一條痕。一摑一手血。未免拕泥帶水。豈能點瓦成金。大眾只如今日為國開堂。還有奇特事也無。良久曰。疊疊青山與流水。舊時顏色舊時聲。又示眾曰。春無三日晴。風雨時時作。岩下見蟠桃。自開還自落。翻憶靈雲得處親。迄今底事何蕭索。非蕭索。春山春水四寥廓。鷓鴣啼處百花香。好薦聲前這一著。喝一喝。又曰。炎風匝地畏日流空。奇雲當戶任長舒。白藕飃香來不斷。林間達士了無寒暑之變遷。塵裏游人但見光陰之迅速。直得燈籠合掌露柱攢眉。一年又將半。幾箇是知音。知不知。路上行人口似碑。

Chan Master Huizhao Dongfu of Xiangyan in Dengzhou was a native of Fuzhou, born of the Fan family. In his youth, his spirit and disposition were clear and keen; when grown, he longed for the School of Emptiness. He left home under Grand Master Yuanming of Jingde Temple of the Eastern Sect. Having passed the examination on the scriptures, he was ordained and received the full precepts. He travelled extensively to visit the monastic assemblies of the Jiang and Huai regions. Finally, he met Jingyin Zhen, and with a single word he immediately accorded [with him], like two arrowheads meeting tip to tip. Moreover, his learning was comprehensive and vast, and naturally integrated; his fame stirred the capital. In accordance with an imperial decree, he went forth into the world at Xiangyan in Dengzhou for nearly ten years. Returning to his native place, he resided at the three monasteries of Guishan, Shoushan, and Shenguang.

He ascended the hall and said, "In the Western Heavens, the twenty-eight [patriarchs] cut off speech and language; in the Eastern land, the six [ancestors] left Dharma without writing. They transmitted solely the one seal, pointing directly to the human mind. When the mind is comprehended, Heaven and Earth are completely encompassed; when the seal is settled, not a single hairsbreadth is omitted. Dust by dust cut off duality; phenomenon by phenomenon merge into emptiness. Only then does one accord with the source of the sages; only then is it called entering the Buddha's knowledge and vision. Understanding it in this way still falls into second and third [ranks]. How do patch-robed monks of original color converse about it? Can you say anything yet? / How can the news from within be conveyed? / The Phoenix Palace and Dragon Pavilion rise steeply against the sky. / If you wish to understand the matter at the eastern border of the City of Awakening, / Vast and solitary for a thousand ages, it remains just as it was."

When he resided at Guishan, a monk asked, "Having departed far from the abbot's room of Xiangyan and entered close to the bodhimaṇḍa of Guishan, what is the Immovable Honoured One?" The master said, "The Great Compassionate One with a Thousand Hands cannot lift it." The monk said, "What is the Moving Honoured One?" The master said, "I once roamed the Jade Palace; through the Golden Gate I have repeatedly come and gone." He also asked, "What is the environment of Guishan?" The master said, "To the thousand peaks there is an approach; the eight directions are pure and without dust." The monk said, "Who is the person in the environment?" The master said, "Sometimes his eyes are open; sometimes they are closed." He also asked, "What is the exact, great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" The master said, "The mountain is cold and exposes its bones; the water is shallow and shows its sand."

The master then said, "Exhausting the sutras and exhausting the treatises is just like entering the sea to count grains of sand; seeking the Dharma and seeking the mind is very much like grasping at empty space to look for an echo. Therefore, the World-Honoured Śākya appeared in the world for the sake of the one great causal condition; the various patriarchs transmitted the robe also to broadly open up skillful means, manifesting the true Dharma outside the teachings and pointing out the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa, acting as a raft to ferry people across and giving medicine in response to illness. Therefore, those who are skilled at speaking the Dharma speak where there is nothing spoken; those who are skilled at transmitting the mind transmit where there is nothing transmitted. Even if one blow leaves one mark, and one slap draws a handful of blood, this still cannot avoid trailing mud and carrying water. How could it turn a tile into gold? For the great assembly today, in opening the hall for the state, is there still any extraordinary matter?" After a long pause, he said, "The folded green mountains and flowing waters / Bear the colors of old and the sounds of old."

He also instructed the assembly, saying, "In spring there are not three days of clear sky; wind and rain arise from time to time. Beneath the crag one sees the coiled peaches: of themselves they bloom, of themselves they fall. Turning my thoughts, I recall where Lingyun attained intimate intimacy; why is that matter now so desolate? It is not desolate. The spring mountains and spring waters are vast and open in all four quarters. Where the partridge cries, the hundred flowers are fragrant. You would do well to apprehend this very move prior to sound!" He gave a shout.

He also said, "Scorching winds encompass the earth; the dreadful sun streams through the sky. Strange clouds before the doorway freely stretch out wide; the white lotus wafts a scent that comes without interruption. Masterful sages amidst the woods are utterly without the shift between cold and heat; wanderers amidst the dust only see the swift passing of time. It even causes the lanterns to clasp their palms and the exposed pillars to knit their brows. The year is again half gone; how many are there who know the tune? Knowing or not knowing, the mouths of travellers on the road are like stone monuments."